What is PACGUY?

I just realized that I never really explained the purpose of this blog. Here it is in a nutshell:

I received funding from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to construct a cocktail style arcade console that is intended to be somewhat of an art installation. The video game is titled Pacguy and riffs off the classic Pacman, replacing the iconic graphics with objects that reference my own artist practice. The changes are all subtle enough that this arcade console will be able to exist as an art object with function in a non art context. The purpose of this blog is to chronicle the contruction of this thing, and perhaps gain insight on how to approach the technical nuts and bolts on recoding the Pacman ROM.

Status Update 2/28/09

Still tweaking the sprites to fit into the initial map of Pacman, and trying to figure out how to edit the text, as soon as I have a prototype of the ROM I will put it up here. I am also trying to decide how to best run the software inside the cabinet. As of now my best option seems to place a CPU inside the cabinet (minus the casing of the CPU), load Xandros on it, and have MAME boot on start up. If anyone has recommendations, I welcome them.

I have two meetings next week with places interested in hosting Pacguy. I do not want to disclose locations until everything is official.